Gala Dinner and Art Auction 23 June 2006

CELT is ten years old

For over ten years, CELT has been a pioneering and highly successful digital Internet site for Irish history, culture, and literature. It brings Irish literature and culture to a worldwide readership; from the sagas of ancient Ireland to the poetry of Goldsmith, the dramas of Wilde; from the Annals of the Four Masters to the leading political writers of the twentieth century. Its work meets rigorous standards and academic protocols.

Every day, 20,000 people read and download its texts. CELT is used in universities worldwide. Its texts support the research work of hundreds of scholars abroad, and are used by thousands of students. Over 6,000,000 people log on in search of Irish writers every year. Literally, CELT is bringing Ireland to the world.

CELT is housed by University College Cork, but is responsible for its own finance. While individual projects have won research funding from Government, CELT itself is entirely supported by private donations and its own fundraising. It requires the support of those interested in Irish culture and Ireland’s cultural standing worldwide to carry out its mission. In keeping with the long artistic tradition of patronage, on 23rd of June 2006 CELT invites you to be a patron.

Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Academic Director

Why an Art Auction?

Visual Art and written text meet in depicting and describing a kaleidoscope of our culture. Our culture is so natural to us that sometimes we forget how completely it shapes and envelops us and our perceptions. But what if it were wiped out over night? If no art survived, no stories, no memories?

Culture with all its dazzling facets—language and literature, arts and music, song and dance, customs and beliefs, practices, games—is with us from birth to death. Like the air we breathe, we do not notice it until an encounter with another culture brings ours into sharp relief. Studying our own past, and understanding its transformations, promotes tolerance and enjoyment of other cultures. And we understand ourselves better.

Have you ever wondered why reading an old story can leave such a fresh and modern imprint on our mind? While they are rooted in their own epoch, great themes of literature are timeless, unfolding universal stories. We empathise, because they speak to us. Likewise, when enjoying music, art and architecture which are hundreds or thousands of years old, their universal, timeless humanity shines through multicoloured prisms, and enriches us. Whether the painter boldly strokes his canvas, or the scribe carefully copies a manuscript; they all describe, interpret, and transmit their perceptions,  forming a mosaic of impressions.

But when cultural transmission stops, the bridge between past and present is broken. The intellectual and spiritual life of a society is cut off from its roots. Future generations lose their past.

CELT presents a rich palette of true Irish literature and history—from the heroes of the Táin, the parchment of early medieval saints' lives, through the colourful worlds of the medieval Irish sagas and romances, tapestries of the religious wars and turmoils of early modern Ireland, to the politics and literature of modern times. The great early lyricists, the finest writers of the middle ages sit beside Goldsmith, Wilde, Pearse, Collins, Connolly. CELT is the leading Irish Internet site, respected worldwide, used by many universities, by thousands of individuals every day.

The CELT Art Auction brings together impressions of 23 painters, old and young, from Ireland and Europe, who have generously given paintings to support us. Art and literature go hand in hand, promoting and sustaining our bountiful cultural heritage. To continue its mission of bringing Irish culture to the world, CELT requests your support. Admission for the Fundraising Dinner and Art Auction is €100. The Art Auction Catalogue is available here.

Our culture is for all to enjoy. It takes time to create, to build upon, to conserve. We will be measured, not only by what we create, but by what we preserve as patrons of our past.

Sinéad Deignan, CELT Fundraiser
Beatrix Färber, CELT Project Manager